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Beauty, brains and exceedingly good taste: the Lake District, Cumbria is the full package. Here we celebrate a living culture that incorporates the past but is rooted firmly in the present. Our history - ancient and more recent - is alive and well in the very Cumbrian landscape, but you can interpret it in our impressive collection of museums that tell Cumbria’s story - from prehistory right through to the modern age.
There’s an impressive list of radical thinkers and artistic pioneers who found inspiration here – William Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter, JMW Turner, John Ruskin, Kurt Schwitters, Josefina de Vasconcellos and Andy Goldsworthy. You can walk in their footsteps, visit their homes and explore the rich creative life built on their exceptional heritage.
You can see and feel it within a few short miles: as well as museums and heritage centres there are scores of galleries, exhibitions and artists’ studios; there’s artworks in the mountains and forests; a packed, year-round programme of live theatre performances, independent cinemas and festivals celebrating all manner of creative endeavours, from music to local craft. And yes, we have lots of traditional performance venues, but there’s a particular thrill in attending a show on an outdoor stage in a spectacular setting.
Inspiration
Set in the heart of the Lake District, this intimate theatre shares a building in Bowness with the…
Art gallery and art shop run by the Heaton Cooper family, selling original paintings and prints…
Our vision is to be a local theatre of national significance, presenting and producing first class…
Long House Studios is a small, friendly, independent art school offering intensive and immersive…
The loveliest spot that man hath ever found
Number of results: 45
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Maryport
Roman museum displaying the internationally significant collection of Romano-British altars, inscriptions and sculptures from the adjacent Roman fort and civilian settlement.
Penrith
An unrivalled range of 1,2 and 3 day courses in the Arts, Crafts, Heritage skills, Baking, Textiles, Raku pottery, Wood /Stone carving, Willow & Wire, Ceramics, Glass, Silver and much much more.
Crosby-on-Eden
Whether you see yourself as an aviation enthusiast or simply a curious explorer, Solway Aviation Museum has something to offer. Based on the site of RAF Crosby-on-Eden, a former WWII fighter base, the museum has been painstakingly created by a team…
Bowness-on-Windermere
A magical indoor attraction that brings to life all 23 Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit tales. Meet all your favourite characters and find out more about Beatrix Potter herself.
Windermere
Visitor centre with interactive exhibitions, Mawson gardens, adventure playground, shop and information centre. Lakeshore access for all.
Penrith
Rheged is a gallery, café, cinema, shopping venue, workplace and creative space on the edge of the Northern Lakes. A place where kids can be kids in our Indoor Play and Making Space and where friends, family and colleagues can share a meal, watch a…
Sedbergh
Farfield Mill is a Victorian woollen mill in the Yorkshire Dales. Home to artists’ studios, art exhibitions, heritage looms and tea room.
Kendal
Abbot Hall is one of Britain’s preeminent small art galleries, set in a Grade I listed Georgian building on the banks of the River Kent in Kendal. The gallery holds an outstanding collection of 18th-21st century art and hosts exhibitions. The…
Coniston
Meet Coniston's heroes, John Ruskin, artist, radical and seer and Donald Campbell, speed ace, and discover the mineral wealth of the fells, all at 'the most thought provoking museum in the Lakes', Rough Guide - all editions.
Whitehaven
Situated on Whitehaven's attractive harbour side, The Beacon is home to interactive science, games and history.
Windermere
Windermere Jetty Museum is a vibrant, family-friendly visitor attraction dedicated to the boats, people and the rich history of Windermere, England’s largest natural lake.
Carlisle
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery is Carlisle's finest visitor attraction, and houses considerable collections of fine and decorative art, human history and natural sciences.
Kendal
Every July and August the finest musicians head to the serene lake District for a summer festival like no other. From string quartets to jazz and baroque specialists to world music, there’s an incredible selection to choose from.
Carlisle
Discover 900 years of history and explore the tumultuous life of Carlisle Castle and its characters, in a new exhibition.
Bowness on Windermere
Set in the heart of the Lake District, this intimate theatre shares a building in Bowness with the World of Beatrix Potter Attraction. The Theatre produces a lively programme of professional drama, music, folk, comedy, lectures and film.
Keswick
Located in Keswick, the home of the first pencil, visitors enter this museum through a replica graphite mine which would have served as the source of the pencil industry over three centuries ago.
Lake Rd, Keswick
Theatre by the Lake has a setting on the shores of Derwentwater no other professional theatre in Britain can match. Each year it stages up to nine of its own productions of classic, modern and new plays and has won multi-starred reviews.
Grasmere
A visit to Dove Cottage today transports you back to this remarkable period of ‘plain living and high thinking’. The sights, sounds and smells bring to life the bustling family home the Wordsworths would have known over 200 years ago.
Whitehaven
Award winning attraction, The Rum Story, is the worlds first exhibition depicting the story of the UK rum trade.
Brampton
A contemporary art gallery 9 miles east of Carlisle. located close to Hadrian’s Wall, the Scottish Borders, Eden Valley, and English Lake District, so it should be no surprise that we have a wealth of artistic talent to call upon.
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